Vise jaws for typographical machines



March 24, 1936. J E, B

" VISE JAWS FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL MACHINES Filed July 18, 1935 2 Sheets$heet 1 INVTENTOR (/5621 Z. Blair ATTORNEYS March 24, 1936. 'J. E. BLAIR 2,035,421

VISE JAWS FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL MACHINES Filed July 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet? INVENTOR 'BYMFM.

ATTORN EYS Patented Mar. 24, 1936 :1: STATES FEIQE TENT VISE JAWS FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL MACHINES tion of New York Application July 18,

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to typographical machines of the general class disclosed. in U. S. Letters Patent No. 436,532 granted September 16, 18.90, wherein matrices each having a character in one edge thereof are composed into a line and presented while clamped and confined endwise betwen the jaws of a vise, with their characters alined with the cavity of a slug casting 'mold, molten metal being then injected into the mold cavity and against the characters on the matrices to cast a type bearing slug which may be used for printing.

The invention relates more particularly to novel and improved means associated with the matrix line clamping vise jaws whereby, after the line of matrices is placed between the jaws it can be automatically moved bodily endwise away from one or the other or both jaws to position it in front of the mold at either end or at the center of the casting cavity therein, thus avoiding the necessity of supplying blank matrices or quads to close the front of the mold cavity beyond the character bearing matrices when lines shorter than the mold cavity are placed between the vise jaws.

The invention accordingly provides simple, inexpensive and effective means for automatically filling out or quadding out the space at one or both ends of short lines of matrices to close the front of the mold cavity beyond the character bearing matrices in the line in such cases where the amount of space required to be filled out is a relatively small part of the total length of the mold cavity, this condition existing in casting slugs for certain classes of printed matter such as book titles, programs, poetry and the like in which the lengths ofsuccessive lines do not vary greatly and the composition therefore does not warrant the use of more elaborate and costly automatic quadding and centering devices which provide for moving one or the other or both of the vise jaws themselves to close them against the ends of short matrix lines.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of partsall as will be hereinafter more fully described, the features of novelty being pointed out particularly in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a rear elevation of the vise mechanism of a line casting machine of a well known construction, showing line filling out or quadding means applied to the vise jaws in accordance with the present invention;

1935, Serial No. 32,114

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the vise jaws shown in Fig. 1, with the, line filling out or quadding devices clamped against a short centered line of matrices; V

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing only one of the line filling out or quadding devices in operative position for quadding a short line of matrices at one end;

Figure 4 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 5 is a view of a portion of the outer side of one of the line filling out or quadding devices showing the hinged joint thereof in detail.

Similar parts are designated by the same reference characters in the several figures.

The present invention is shown in the present instance applied to the line clamping and confining vise jaws of a line casting machine of well known construction, and in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the vise jaws are provided with vertically movable wedge members which are slidable in oppositely directed inclined guides in the respective jaws, the wedge members being retained in the guides by dovetailed engagement therewith and provided with parallel vertical faces to engage the end matrices in lines presented between the jaws. The wedges are preferably composed of hinged sections to permit them to be rendered operative and inoperative, and when in use, the wedges depend or hang from the jaw faces in such manner that their lower ends are in the path of movement of the usual spaceband justification bar commonly provided on machines of this class, so that the upward movement of such bar will drive either or both of the wedges upwardly and thus advance their vertical faces toward one another while remaining in parallelism, thereby narrowing the space between the jaws and moving a short matrix line between them bodily to locate and confine such line at either end or at the center of the mold cavity and at the same time causing the wedges to close the mold cavity beyond the matrixvline by their rear faces which lie in the plane of the casting faces of the vise jaws.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings I and 2 represent respectively the right hand and left hand vise jaws of a line casting machine of the class referred to, these jaws being mounted in a vise frame 3 as usual. The left hand jaw 2 is adjustable to set it at different distances from the right hand jaw I, to .accord with the column measure of the composition, a left hand vise jaw adjusting and closing device being shown for example in the present instance which is like that disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,108,758 granted August 25, 1914 to which reference may be had for a detailed description of the construction and mode of operation thereof, although the left hand vise jaw adjusting and closing means forms no part of the present invention and it will be understood that other mechanism may be employed for this purpose. It may be pointed out however that in the construction shown 4 represents a pinion engaged with a toothed adjusting bar 5 having a jaw abutment 6 secured to its inner end, so that rotation of the pinion 4 will reciprocate the adjusting bar 5 and thereby locate the jaw abutment 6 in different positions and thus determine the position of the adjustable left hand jaw 2. Usually and as shown, the right hand jaw I is stationary and rests against an abutment I carried on the vise frame. The spaceband justification bar 8 is carried as usual on vertically reciprocable rods 9 guided in the vise frame, and according to the ordinary construction, is of such length as to extend somewhat beyond the opposed line engaging faces of the vise jaws when the latter are set to receive the longest line which the machine is intended to cast.

According to the present invention as shown in the accompanying drawings, the inner or line engaging faces of the vise jaws I and 2 comprise wedge members I0 and II respectively, these wedge members being mounted to slide, for which purpose they are provided with tongues I 2 and I 3 of dove-tailed cross section slidably engaging correspondingly dove-tailed guideways I4 and I5 in the respective jaws, these guideways being inclined in opposite directions in the respective jaws. Also, the outer edges of the wedge members I0 and II are inclined in opposite directions and at angles corresponding to those of the guideways to form a closed joint and preserve the continuity of the rear or casting faces of the jaws, the inner or proximate edges of the wedge members forming opposed parallel faces I6 and I 1 which are disposed vertically and are equal in width to the thickness of the vise jaws, as shown in Fig. 4. The inner faces I6 and I! of the wedge members thus provide matrix engaging ends or faces on the jaws, and these faces of the wedge members remain in parallelism although they approach and recede from one another when the wedge members are moved in one or the other direction in their inclined guideways.

The wedge members I0 and I I normally hang by gravity and under their own weight from the faces of the respective vise jaws, in the positions indicated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 1, the upper ends of the wedge members being provided with projecting offsets or lugs I8 and I9 respectively which engage shoulders 20 and 2I on the respective jaws, these shoulders extending perpendicularly from the opposite dove-tailed sides of the guideways on the jaws to the front and back faces thereof and serving to limit the downward sliding movement of the wedge members. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 the wedge members are preferably recessed at the front to reduce their thickness to less than that of the jaws except for the vertical faces I6 and I1, the recess I I d in the wedge member I I and the recess II] in the wedge member ID allowing the jaws to overlap the wedge members to a substantial extent and thereby reinforce them against lateral rocking movement or displacement due to any possible looseness of fit of the wedge members in their dove-tailed guideways.

The wedge members I!) and I I are so constructed and mounted on the respective jaws that either or both of these members may be caused to occupy operative or inoperative position. As shown, these wedge members each comprise upper and lower sections hinged together, the lower sections of the wedge members normally depending or hanging by gravity from the respective jaws in the path of movement of the usual line justifying device usually employed in machines of this class. Thus, the wedge member I0 has an upper section I0 hinged thereto by a hinge pin 22 and the wedge member I I has an upper section I I hinged thereto by a hinge pin 23. The hinge construction for both wedge members I I and I2 is the same, the hinge construction for the wedge member II being shown in Fig. 5, according to which the upper section II of the wedge member has a lug II b thereon and the lower section of this wedge member has a lug I I thereon, these lugs being relatively offset laterally so that they overlie one another and the hinge pin 23 pivotally connects them together.

When the wedge members I 0 and II hang in normal positions as indicated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 1, the lower sections of these members may be swung about their respective hinges into the full line positions shown in this figure, the under sides of the vise jaws being recessed or cut away to accommodate the wedge members when swung out of their operative positions. Any suitable means, such for example as detents 24 and 25 comprising spring pressed plungers mounted on leaf'springs as 25 secured to the respective jaws and engageable in shallow depressions 26 and 2'! in the lower sections of the respective wedge members, may be employed to retain the lower sections of the wedge members in the inoperative full line positions shown in Fig. 1.

In order to permit the wedge members to slide freely upwardly while they are being driven upwardly by the spaceband justification bar 8, the wedge members are provided at their lower edges with rollers 28 and 29 arranged to ride on the upper surface of the justification bar, so that as the wedge members are moved upwardly by said bar the inclined guides in the vise jaws will cause the matrix line engaging faces I6 and I I of the respective wedge members to approach one another during which the lower ends of the wedge members will ride longitudinally on the bar 8, friction between the wedge members and the justification bar being avoided by said rollers.

The operation of the wedge members provided by the present invention for centering and for quadding a matrix line presented between the vise jaws will be clear from Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Assuming the left hand vise jaw 2 has been set for a matrix line of a given length and that it is desired to center matrix lines which are considerably shorter than such given length, the lower sections of the wedge members II) and II will be allowed to hang vertically in operative positions from the respective vise jaws. When a line of matrices M, which is considerably shorter than the distance between the line engaging faces of the jaws is presented between the jaws, the left hand end of the matrix line as viewed in this figure will contact with the face of the right hand jaw I, as usual. When the justification bar moves upwardly, as usual in machines of this class, to justify the line, it W ll contact with the rollers at the lower ends of the wedge-members t0 and :l l and movezthese wedge :members upwardly from their :normal dotted line positions shown inFig. :1 to the .lwill cause the inner vvertical the Wedge-members finally enm in'the-mold beyond the character bearing -matrices in the line will be closed bythe casting faces ofthe vise jawsand the faces of the wedge members which lie in thesame plane with such casting faces. Injection of -molten metal into the mold cavity while the matrix line is clamped and confined in front of'it by thewedge members, will produce aslug bearing characters on its edge which are reproductions of the characters in the -matrices in: the line and the portions of this edge of the'slug beyond the character bearing matrices will be blank. After the casting operation, descent of the justification bar 8 which then takes place will permit the wedge members to slide downwardly -*by gravity and thus return to their normal lower positions in which they are supported by the engagement of the lugs l8 and I9 thereon with the shoulders 20 and 2| respectively on the vise jaws, it being understood that the left hand jaw closing device at this time operates to release its endwise clamping action on the matrix line, as usual in machines of this class, thus releasing the wedge members for free descent by gravity. The vertical matrix line engaging faces l6 and ll of the wedge members separate or move apart during the descent of the wedge members, until these faces stand apart from one another a distance equal to the setting of the vise jaws.

When it is desired to fill out or quad out one or the other end of a matrix line presented between the vise jaws and which is considerably shorter than the distance between the line engaging faces of these jaws when set for a given length line, one or the other of the wedge members is swung back out of its operative position. For example as shown in Fig. 3, the wedge member H attached to the left hand vise jaw 2 is shown as swung into its inoperative position and retained in such position by the detent 25. The line of matrices M presented between the vise jaws with its left hand end in contact with the line engaging face of the right hand jaw I, is shorter than the distance between the vise jaws, and the usual upward stroke of the justification bar 8 will therefore move the wedge member l0 attached to the right hand jaw upwardly and thereby slide the matrix line to the right as viewed in Fig. 3, until it contacts with the left hand jaw 2, and the line is clamped in this position by pressure of the inner vertical face 16 of the wedge member lil against the opposite end of the line, thus quadding out the respective end of the short line. The opposite end of a short line may be quadded out by swinging the wedge member Ill upwardly into its inoperative position and by lowering the wedge member ll into its operative position.

Should the line of matrices presented between the vise jaws contain spacebands S, as in the case of the matrix M in Fig. 3, the justification bar will drive the spacebands upwardly as usual asawe ll asmove. 0116:.01 both of the wedge mem- ..-bers, as the case may be, vertically, expansion; of -theline2by the 'driving'upwardly of the spacebandsrherely reducing'the amount of space-between the jaws-whichwill betaken up by, upward {,5

movement of the wedge members.

When the matrix lines being presentedbetween the vise jawsare composed to thefull length .for which the jawsaare set, .sothat the lines are not to becentered or quadded. outat 50 --either end, .bothwedge members It! and II .are swung upwardly into the inoperative positions shown by :the full lines in Fig. 1, such matrix lines being expanded to .theifull line measure between the -=vise jaws by the expansible space- 1 5 bands,:as usual.

The sliding wedge members provided on-zthe vise jaws, as hereinbefore described, enable ;a short matrix line or a line of less than full length for which the vise jaws are set,.presented be-mo tween the jaws, to bemoved to either end or to the center of'the spacebetween the jaws, these wedge-members thus constituting simple and effective 'means for quadding out short linesat one or'both ends. The amount of space that-:25 can be filled out by the wedge members will depend of course .uponthe pitch of their outer inclined edges, and this can be so chosen that the range of quadding and centering action of the wedge members will adequately meet the de- 30 mands in many classes of composition.

I claim as my invention:-

1. In a slug casting machine having a pair of opposed vise jaws adapted to be set at difierent distances apart to receive full matrix lines of dilferent lengths presented endwise between the jaws, matrix line engaging members on the opposed ends of the respective jaws having means for moving them selectively into and out of operative position, and means for moving either or both of said members into engagement with the ends of a short matrix line to locate and clamp such line centrally of the space between the jaws.

2. In a slug casting machine having vise jaws adapted to be set to receive given length matrix lines, means on said jaws for selectively moving a line bodily endwise from normal line receiving position against one of the jaws to a position removed from normal position and against the other jaw.

3. In a slug casting machine, vise jaws adapted to be set to receive given length matrix lines and having movable matrix engaging faces, and line justifying means cooperative with said movable faces to advance them while the jaws remain in 5 set position to thereby clamp a line of less than given length between the jaws, each of said movable matrix engaging faces being movable into and out of cooperative relation with the line justifying means. 60

4. In a slug casting machine having a pair of opposed vise jaws adapted to be set to receive matrix lines between them, at least one of the jaws having a matrix engaging face movable endwise of the matrix line and means for moving said movable face while the respective jaw remains in set position to advance a matrix line of less than given length endwise and clamp such line against the opposed face of the other jaw, said movable face being movable relatively to the respective jaw into an inoperative position.

5. In a slug casting machine having a pair of opposed vise jaws adapted to be set at different distances apart to receive full matrix lines of different lengths presented endwise between the jaws, matrix engaging members on the opposed ends of the respective jaws and movable toward one another, and means for moving said members into engagement with the ends of a short matrix line to locate and clamp such line centrally of the space between the jaws, said matrix engaging members being movable relatively to the respective jaws into inoperative positions.

6. In a line casting machine, vise jaws having parallel opposed matrix engaging faces, said faces comprising wedge members slidable in 0p positely inclined guides on the respective jaws, and line justifying means operative to engage the wedge members endwise to slide them in their guides, the wedge members being slidable on the justifying means transversely of its direction of movement and adapted to be selectively set out of engaging relation with the line justifying means, and means for locking the wedge members out of such engaging relation.

7. In a line casting machine, vise jaws having parallel opposed matrix engaging faces, said faces comprising wedge members slidable in oppositely inclined guides on the respective jaws, each wedge member comprising pivotally connected sections one of which is swingable out of operative position, and means operative on the swingable sections of the wedge members while in operative position to advance the parallel faces of the wedge members toward one another.

8. In a line casting machine, vise jaws having parallel opposed matrix engaging faces, said faces comprising wedge members slidable in oppositely inclined paths on the respective jaws, said wedge members comprising upper and lower sections hinged together, and line justifying means operative on the lower sections of the wedge members to advance the parallel faces of the wedge members toward one another, the lower sections of the wedge members being swingable out of the path of the justifying means.

9. In a line casting machine, the combination:

of a mold having a slug casting cavity of given length, a pair of vise jaws for clamping a matrix line of less than given length endwise in front of the mold cavity, wedge members carried by said jaws having parallel opposed faces to engage the ends of such matrix line by sliding movement on the jaws, means for sliding the wedge members on the jaws to engage and clamp the matrix line, and means for locking either wedge member against the action of said sliding means;

JOHN E. BLAIR. 

